1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a lighting device for producing a supplemental beam, particularly, a supplemental high beam.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, vehicles have been provided with headlamp assemblies that produce multiple beam functions, such as low beam and high beam functions. In some vehicle markets, high beams are limited to a maximum intensity by governmental regulatory authorities. A typical high intensity lighting device for a SAE supplemental high beam market have been designed using high luminous, high output LED, such as a laser LED, and imaging systems. Because the maximum high beam output is limited to, for example, 75,000 candelas, the use of supplemental high beam lamps that add additional light to the high beam is of limited benefit because the combination of a supplemental beam with a high beam cannot exceed the 75,000 candelas limit.
Some prior art lighting systems, such as adaptive driving beam (ADB) headlamp systems, may be considered to supplement the high beam, but these systems were typically complex mechanisms and sophisticated, sometimes requiring pixel switching or other mechanisms that were necessary to supplement the high beam. Many of these systems were not specific or subject to the current SAE high beam regulations.
What is needed, therefore, is a lighting system that overcomes one or more of the problems of the prior art and that produces a complementary distribution to a high beam, while staying under the regulatory maximum intensity.